My 2022 review
Hello! Honestly, I cannot believe I’m sitting here writing my 2022 review. It feels like just five minutes ago we welcome 2022. Yet here we are, again. It’s been one hell of a year with many ups and down, but looking back at it I can see there were so many ups. 2022 has been filled with lots of fun. I’ve not blogged much this year because I’ve been so busy living!
So, here’s what I’ve been up to…
January
January didn’t get off to the best of starts. If you read my 2021 review, then you’ll know I didn’t have the highest of hopes for this year! The year started with my great-aunt’s funeral. I guess there’s not much to say about it. It was a sad occasion, but we celebrated her life.
Not wanting to let the sad start to the year dictate the rest, I kept pushing myself with my anxiety. We had our Covid boosters in January and I booked myself, my boyfriend, and my brother in at a shopping centre so we could have a wander around the shops after. Despite it being an anxiety provoking day, it was still nice to get out.
Looking back at this picture is so odd. Wearing masks feels like such a long time ago.
I upcycled a marmite piece of furniture. Many people hated it, but I loved it. Surprisingly, it sold quickly.
I’ve been upcycling quite a lot this year and I’ve chosen several pieces to show you in this post. Unfortunately, as I sit writing this in mid-December, I’m having to stop/slow down as nobody’s buying right now with everyone watching their finances closely. I’m hoping the market will pick up again as I really miss doing it and it was so good for my mental health. After hoarding furniture all summer, I sold my last piece in November and have had nothing since.
February
February saw me throw myself back into writing. I started editing my first draft of The Cornish Vintage Dress Shop. This was the first edit of many! But it was worth it. I thoroughly enjoyed losing myself in Rosie’s story.
We also celebrated Valentine’s Day with cake! Being gluten-free, it’s not often I find cake that’s worth raving about, but these Lola’s Cupcakes were divine!
March
March was one of my favourite months. It did end on a bit of a rubbish note, but we’ll get to that…
I adored this piece of furniture. Honestly, it was a nightmare to restore, but eventually worth the hours I put into it (although not financially worth it!). It found a new home with a lovely woman who appreciated its history.
I had a break-through this month with eating out. I’m keeping it very informal and sticking to places where I pay, get the food, and then sit down. It takes the pressure off and I feel more relaxed. This was the first time I achieved it. We had a dog-free day to do some pre-holiday shopping and so I decided to challenge myself to eat while we were out. (When I say holiday shopping, I mean extra pairs of socks and a new hat!)
We went on holiday in March! I’m sure many of you know we go up to Wales whenever we can to visit my boyfriend’s family. This time, we booked a caravan so we could go up and see them. My parents joined us and so after lots of packing and organising, we set off on the journey.
It rained most of the time and the caravan wasn’t the best, but it was still a lovely break! I also enjoyed pushing myself by staying somewhere new. It’s been years (way before covid) since I stayed somewhere ‘new’ so it was quite the challenge. This was like a mid-way point and eased me into the holiday we had later in the year.
You can read more about it here.
March ended on a rubbish note as I came home with Covid! Thankfully, my parents didn’t catch it, nor did my boyfriend’s family. I think I must have been really unlucky and picked it up at one of the brief service station stops.
I felt really rough for a few days, but slowly got over it. A few months later, I realised my hair was falling out. It’s not the first time I’ve lost hair after being ill (I had it after having pneumonia in my teens), but it’s still been tough. I know it’s just hair, but sometimes I look in the mirror and it really gets me down.
April
After saying goodbye to Covid and with the weather slowly improving, I wanted to get out there and start living again. The combination of years of anxiety and being stuck in from lockdowns, etc… has made me restless and eager to enjoy life (albeit by taking baby steps). We did lots of walks, some in places I felt familiar with, others pushed me a little more.
We celebrated Peanut’s first birthday. I wanted to do more for it, but Covid stopped me from being able to make plans. He still had a lovely day filled with lots of cuddles and lovely walks.
I cannot believe how quickly time has flown. It feels like yesterday we brought him home.
I did lots more upcycling. This beautiful cabinet was bought by a lady for her bathroom.
I fell in love with this serpentine cabinet and thought it would be snapped up. Unfortunately (or fortunately) it didn’t sell, and it now lives in my hallway.
That’s the thing with upcycling. You’re never sure exactly what will sell!
I bit the bullet and had McDonald’s in April. It may sound silly to some, but I haven’t had McDonald’s since the day I had Norovirus. I hadn’t been fussed about not eating it, but as time went on, I realised I needed to confront it. To some, it just looks like fast food. To me, this was a huge step forward.
(If you’ve read my Christmas book, you’ll notice McDonald’s gets a mention. The smallest of things in my books often have a huge story behind them)
May
May started off very stressful when Peanut went in for an op. He wasn’t a fan of the cone (see picture below) so we opted for baby onesies. He seemed comfortable in them, and they deterred him from licking his stitches. The first few nights we slept on a blow-up mattress in the living room with him (when I say ‘we’ I mean my boyfriend. I’m a terrible sleeper so I ended up enjoying the bed to myself). We didn’t want to risk him in our bedroom in case he tried jumping on/off of the bed and tore his stitches (also didn’t want to leave him alone).
But he bounced back quickly. A little too quickly, to be honest! Within a couple of days, he was trying to bounce around, and we had to stop him.
My anxiety was on high-alert and the day after his op my boyfriend was in the office. I didn’t get much done that day, as I was anxious about being alone. I’ve also not really driven this year, so I was super aware that if anything went wrong, I’d have to drive a poorly Peanut to the vets.
Thankfully, nothing went wrong, but the worrying took its toll on me.
The month definitely improved! We continued to chip away at my anxiety about eating out/ sitting down to a coffee/food (it’s not about the eating/drinking, it’s more the feeling of being ‘trapped’ waiting of the food to come and then eating it). We picked up some yummy (gluten-free!!) food and took it away to eat on a walk. I now feel confident doing something like this.
June
June was a month of pushing my anxiety. We ate out again, this time sitting at a cafe to eat. It was one of those places where you pay and get your food before you sit down. This eliminates one stage of waiting. It also means that at any moment I could just pop my food in the little bag and take it with me.
We went another step further and stopped for a drink at a pub during the Jubilee weekend. It was busy, and I had to wait outside with Peanut while my boyfriend ordered. I was anxious, but it was manageable. The funny thing about my memory is when I look back I forget the anxiety and just remember the joy of the event. It makes doing anxiety provoking things worth it for the memories.
We went to Brighton! It was super hot, so we didn’t take Peanut with us. We had some chips along the beach and a wander around the town.
I tried something a little new with these bedside tables. Not sure what I think of them, but they sold straight away!
The end of June saw me celebrate my 28th birthday. Leading up to it, I had a bit of a mental health wobble. I didn’t want to put any pressure on the day and announced I wasn’t planning on celebrating it. This ended up in an argument with my family, as they couldn’t see my point. I stood my ground and just treated it as a normal workday and enjoyed it all the more for the lack of pressure.
July
It was super hot this summer, meaning we couldn’t really do much. Most of our time was spent in doors in front of a fan and taking Peanut out for very late night walks. I made the most of it and threw myself into writing and upcycling. I adored these bedside tables, but they took forever to sell! We considered keeping them, but they were just a tad too big.
I had lots of fun with this drinks’ cabinet! One of the panes of glass was cracked, so I stuck mirror tiles over it to cover it and to protect it.
We dropped Peanut off with my parents one day and went to a vintage kilo sale. I’d never been to one before and loved it. Ended up buying some lovely pieces (including this outfit above).